Thursday, October 13, 2016

Ethan Of Athos - Lois McMaster Bujold

Ethan of Athos is a stand alone novel set in Lois McMaster
Bujold’s ‘Vorkosigan’ universe. That said, none of the Vorkosigan clan feature.
Rather, the focus is on the titular Ethan, a Doctor sent out from the planet of
Athos in search of new genetic material.

Athos is the backdrop to much of the novel. Its society is
explored in some depth in the opening chapters of the text, and the social
mores inculcated in Ethan by his society are a key factor in much of the rest.
Athos, you see, is a world first populated after artificial gestation has
become practical. This has allowed some rather odd societies to construct
themselves – including Athos, a world at the far, far end of the back-end of
nowhere, aggressively reclusive and populated only by men. Athos is a society
designed to order-one where ‘Social Duty Credits’, acquired from volunteer work
and the like, are used to determine a citizen’s right to, amongst other things
have and raise child. Athos is a relatively tranquil place though, and the
narrative takes pains to show us several instances of domesticity, and a
society with a strong strand of family and trust running through it.

At the same time, this is a society with several flaws. On a
practical level, they’re dependent on a supply of genetic material to keep
increasing their population. On a social one, there is a pervasive fear of
women – something brought in by the original settlers. There’s a dissonance
here, at the root of Athos, a quiet sub-current in the text. The same families
of men that care for and love their children, that work hard and with a
pleasantly straightforward honesty – those same individuals are reduced to
reflexive fear and horror at the very idea of women, and have embargoed the gender
from visiting the world.

Isolated as Athos is, it still needs some trade, and has a
slight connection with the universe outside their space. That tenuous
connection is Kline station, the other core location for the novel. Kline is a
sealed environment, a thronging, claustrophobic metropolis, self sustaining,
surrounded by the infinite vacuum of space. In comparison to Athos it seems to
thrum with nervous energy, and has a cosmopolitan nature perhaps unfamiliar to
the inhabitants of Athos. It’s a Casablanca for the stars, where different
political and social systems clash, merge and generate an interesting
synthesis. But Kline has issues as well – for example, it has an eco-police, a
force with seemingly sweeping powers, whose role is to preserve the environment
of Kline, to enable it to continue to function; from monitoring protein vats to
arresting individuals suspected to have communicable diseases, they’re
everywhere. Kline isn’t a paradise, it’s just somewhere different, with
different priorities to, for example, backwater Athos.

To the credit of the text, it doesn’t present either of
these options as necessarily better than the other – they simply exist as they
are, and each is given ample room to display both virtues and vices.

In a similar vein, so is Ethan, the protagonist, a doctor
from Athos. He’s pitched out into the wider universe in search of new genetic
materials, to allow Athos to continue to grow. A man in a high-flying career,
with a sense of determination around seeking to create a family, Ethan is calm,
focused, and shockingly unprepared for the wider universe. The text lets the
reader see Ethan’s inner monologue – and in most respects, he’s a good man,
drawn into events he may not be ready for. But it also allows exploration of
his own casual prejudices, against women, and as regards the more cosmopolitan
society of Kline, where he ends up in search of his materials. There’s an
unflinching honesty to it which makes for a rather enjoyable read – especially combined
with the other aspects of the gentle Ethan’s character.

Ethan is counterbalanced by the acerbic, disturbingly
competent, and somewhat fiery mercenary, Elli Quinn. Quinn has turned up in
other Vorkosigan books as a supporting character – but given her own outing,
proves thoroughly enjoyable. She’s quick on the uptake, and her blunt,
no-nonsense physicality works as a foil to Ethan’s more abstract approach. Their
interactions with each other explore the edges of their own prejudices – Ethan’s
against, well, women, and Quinn’s own against what she feels Ethan is – a zealot,
a man with no military training, family focused, physicallyweaker and hence
with less value. Both have their views challenged by the other, and if neither
entirely comes around, their exploration of their differences, and the gradual amalgamation
of their views, makes for interesting reading.

The plot, surprisingly enough, is something of a spy
thriller. Ethan quickly makes some enemies, not entirely knowing why, and
spends much of the text either on the run, or trying to work out why quite so
many people want to kill him. I won’t spoilt it, but suffice to say that the
answer to that question is one which may change Ethan, Athos, and perhaps the
universe at large. In the meantime, the action is fast-paced, and the prose
makes up a tense and snappy read. There’s some emotional depth on display as
well, to counterbalance all of the flash – the novel hangs together rather
well.

Is it worth reading? It’s awkward in places, and some of the
social commentary is a bit clunky, but it’s a novel filled with interesting
ideas, broadly well put, embedded into a page-turning plot. So if you’re in the
mood for something that mixes big ideas with a narrative punch, this may be one
for you.